The Plagued
by GracefulNight
Summary: I awaken in a world that is changed. There is little hope. What is left to do but stand and fight? EDIT: I am rewriting this. Go check it out!


**Hello everyone. This is a story that is based off a dream I had. Rated T for violence. Enjoy.**

**EDIT: I'm rewriting this for detail and length.**

**OoOoOoO**

My name is Breanne Hailey Carondell, and I was nine when the apocalypse began.

It had all started with the creation of an ultimate atom bomb, never passed beyond the testing stage, for the scientists that studied its detonation in the recesses of the New Mexico desert noticed strange behavior in the local towns. At first they thought it was rabies, but none of the affected tested positive.

It was then they realized it was something more.

The virus, now known as the Atom Plague, spread by bite. The victims became cannibalistic, devouring those that weren't changed. There is no cure, at least, not yet.

So the remaining people of the world, myself included, went underground, literally. The Plagued rarely found us, and when they did, we were prepared.

For we hadn't waited underground to be killed like frightened rabbits. We that were of able body and sound mind even after seeing and living through the murder or change of our friends and family learned to fight. We were taught by the best, because only the best survived. There were also the scientists, who worked to reverse the radiation.

So, back to the topic at hand. I write down our story, my story, with the hope that the people of the future will learn from the mistakes that we all made.

As I lay here, near death, I can't help but wonder who you are, reading this. Are you in a future, far from our pain? Have you forgotten what was lost? Or do you exist at all? But I cannot afford to think like that. I must believe that the lives of hundreds were not a waste. But, if they are still needed, take my words to heart. They are your only chance.

The Plagued will fall.

**OoOoOoO**

April 14th, 2046

Six Years Ago...

I lay in my bed, unable to fall asleep one quiet night. I stared at the bright green walls, and listened for the absent sounds of urban civilization. We had heard reports of the monsters that week. The president told the country that there was no way to stop the inevitable. All power had stopped yesterday. We were in the dark, in more ways than one.

It was as though a part of me knew what was coming, even then. I remember that night clearly. It was the night I learned just how sad the world could be. I heard a bang, and sat straight up in bed.

A noise reverberated through the eerie silence of the night. A noise that ended my childhood and began my days as a world-weary adult.

It was the sound of my mother screaming, and then silence. The sound that I would later know to be the sound of death. Screaming, and then silence. I would hear that sound many times in the years to come.

My father screamed as well, and his words registered in an ever-working part of my mind. "Run, Bree!" he screamed. I could hear laughter, laughter as cold as the ice frozen on my window.

I sat there for a while, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Then I heard another sound, even more demented than the last. The sound of flesh tearing, and a sickening splash that jolted me back to my senses. My father stalled whatever they were...to save me.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the window, nearly tripping over the shirt I wore the day before. There was a tree outside of my window that I climbed often. Footsteps echoed on the stairs as I jumped from the ledge to the nearby branch. I grabbed on to the thick branch, hitting my knees and nearly falling. I climbed down quickly, not looking back, but running down the deserted streets. The houses were empty, but behind me, I could see the light of fire.

Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled.

I kept running, my muscles screaming for an end. It looked like the entire town had been raided at once, and it was only then that I realized just how many of the monsters there were. Millions, that would grow to outnumber the human race.

I remember how it felt. The feeling that, even though there was nothing behind me, I was being chased. But what was I running from? The knowledge that the people I loved the most were dead? Or was I running from reality in general?

I'm not sure, even now. But I ran until I knew I could run no more. I was outside of a Stripes, at least a mile from my home. The door was unlocked, and I stumbled in.

I collapsed behind the counter, and fell asleep, wondering if I had outran my fears.

I know now that I had, at least for the moment. But there would be greater things to fear in the coming years.


End file.
